


Plague

by cashmerekats



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, F/F, F/M, M/M, Zombie Apocalypse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-22
Updated: 2016-01-25
Packaged: 2018-05-12 23:05:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,849
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5684641
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cashmerekats/pseuds/cashmerekats
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>People adapt to their situations as best as they can. And when disaster strikes there's no avoiding it. There's no wishing it away. You're stuck.</p><p>And you have to survive. </p><p>Anything it takes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Cold Floors

_"Eren!"_

_Eren turned around to see a girl smiling at him. She had dark hair, a freckled face, and straight teeth. Mina. The two had know each other since the third grade and even though they didn't talk regularly, they were good friends._

_"What?"_

_With a sly smile, she whispered, "Let me see your homework. I didn't do it last night."_

_Eren rolled his eyes and turned around, chuckling._

_Earnestly, Mina continued, "Please Eren! Eren! Eren!"  
_

"Eren."

Eren opened his eyes slightly, seeing two people standing above him. One of them stuck their hand out, helping him to his feet. Taking it, Eren got up and dusted the dirt off of his clothes. 

"You slept well," Armin remarked. Armin was Eren's neighbor who lived with his grandfather. He had straight blonde hair and soft blue eyes. He was quiet, kind, and very smart, and the two had been great friends since they were young. Armin was also at many times Eren's voice of reason, his rational mind balancing out Eren's temperamental attitude.

"I had a nice dream, I guess," Eren said.

"Nice dream?" Mikasa asked. She was the girl who lived on the other side of Eren. She had slanted eyes and raven hair along with an athletic build. She was reserved, much quieter than Armin but cared deeply about the people she was close to. She was very protective of Armin and Eren, and always had been.

"It was something I remembered," Eren said, "A conversation I had with Mina. From school."

Armin looked at the ground, bangs falling over his eyes. Mikasa nodded, saying, "Mina was nice."

_Was._

Many people in their lives were defined by the past tense these days. Teachers, neighbors, friends, and family. All gone.

About six months prior, news reports broke out about a flu epidemic that caused extremely high fevers. It swept through the nation, and then the world, decimating the human population. The worst part was that afterwards, the dead would apparently reanimate and roam the Earth again. But there was no conscience and they violently attacked the living, tearing them apart and devouring them.

At first people were directed to places like high schools and stadiums, where government workers told them how they could stay safe and that "everything would be fine." The three had been directed to the local high school, with their families, and dozens of others, for a short time. Of course, that fell through pretty quickly. Someone got sick, and then a few more and there was a huge panic. An evacuation was planned but families were split up, people were taken to different locations, and some were left behind entirely.

Like Eren, Mikasa, and Armin.

And so the trio that always stuck together, stuck together. Some people decided to wait at the high school longer, but the three decided to take their chances on their own. To go out and find their families.

They set out with hardly anything and began searching houses, stores, anything, for supplies. Food, water, protection. They were cautious and they were scared, but the three managed. 

They foraged through their town, hitting up all the places they could think of, except for their own homes, excluding the single visit they made to Mikasa's house. Eventually they looped around back to the high school. It lay in ashes and was completely abandoned. They hadn't noticed it burning and didn't hear anyone leaving. 

They assumed that everyone got out safely and quietly. They didn't dare assume the latter. 

Eventually, more and more of the dead would shuffle into the town. Some they recognized, some strangers. It began to become more and more infested and so they headed out. There was nothing there anyways. No food. No supplies. And no people.

Not any of the living anyway.

Eventually they made their way to a much larger town, Trost. It wasn't as large and dense as any of the major cities but it was definitely a decent urban center. There were buildings, several stories high. Signs indicated markets, warehouses, shopping centers, and apartment complexes. There were signs of recent human activity too, but it seemed that people left in droves from the city. Surely there were still some people here, either holed up or passing through, but the number was negligible to the amount of dead in the city. 

They were everywhere. Shuffling around the streets en masse, inside every single store, and even more so during the dark.

But the three were meticulously careful. Never splitting up, never neglecting to check every corner, staying in at dark, and taking turns keeping watch.

"Okay," Eren huffed, "I packed up everything. We're good to go."

Taking the packs, the trio cautiously left the empty room they had spent the night in and made their way into a large apartment complex hallway. As they walked to the end of the hall, towards the fire escape, Mikasa said, "Okay. What we need to do is find some more food and water. Maybe even something else to protect us with."

"We have our knives," Armin said, referring to the knives both he and Eren possessed, "And you have  _that._ "

Armin gestured to a long stick, resting on Mikasa's back. It was a katana that belonged to her father and one of the things she retrieved from that last trip to her former home. The katana was long and sharp, making Eren and Armin's knives look juvenile, but in reality, Mikasa could barely wield it. She was improving but it was very much a hail mary that saved them in the most dire situations.

Mikasa looked down at the sword, and responed, "Yeah but you guys need something bigger. Something that could be really helpful in a bind."

With a clap of his hands, Eren announced, "Well let's get to it then."

Pushing the fire escape door open, sunlight streamed in, hurting their eyes as they adjusted to it. All three stepped out onto the fire escape, which moaned beneath them. Below them sat an alleyway with large dumpsters and boxes. There was open street on both sides of the alleyway, 104th Street to the right and an unknown street to the left. The trio had traversed 104th previously, but the other street was always teeming with dead. Armin theorized that it was connected to a more central street, which would explain for the crowd. No matter what the reason, the other street was not an option.

The three went as quickly as they could down the metal fire escape, entering the alley below. The air reeked of garbage, and sewage and another unspeakable smell. Rats gathered underneath the large dumpsters but didn't dare go out. The carcasses of dead rats and cats were warnings enough to stay out of the open alleys.

"Look," Armin said, gesturing to the dead animals. Eren and Mikasa looked at the bodies, then scanned the alley. 

Empty.

Warily, Mikasa unsheathed the sword on her back and held it out, awkwardly. Not used to the weight of the sword, she needed both hands to steady the blade. The katana sat on the shelf in her living room for as long as she could remember, and she never touched it before all of this. She was learning quickly though. They began needing the sword's protection more and more often recently, and although she still wielded it gauchely, it was a vast improvement from the first time she used it.

Proceeding to the end of the alley that faced 104th street, the trio looked back and forth, scanning every bit of the alley. Stopping at the end of the alley, Mikasa took in the street. It was a warm day, sunlight covering the street. A few of the undead stumbled through the streets but they were spread out and could be easily maneuvered around. 

"Where are we going?" Eren whispered.

Mikasa didn't answer immediately, but after some thought said, "I think there's a gas station around the corner that we haven't checked. I say that we check there and keep trying to get through the city."

"Wh-Where are we going after that?" Armin asked.

Shrugging, Mikasa said, "To find our families. Our to find anybody at all. We can't be the last people in the world."

Kicking around dust, Eren mumbled, "I hope not..."

"Come on," Mikasa said, running into the street. 

Following after her, the boys kept low to the street and as far from the undead as possible. Nearing the end of the street, Mikasa stopped so quickly that she almost fell over, with Eren and Armin nearly running into her. Crouching down, the boys followed her example.

In a hushed whisper, Mikasa exclaimed, "Holy shit. There's so many of them."

104th Street was practically empty, but not the street it connected to. The dead were everywhere, covering every inch of the street. Some of them stumbled around, some of they lay still on the ground or propped up against walls and cars basking in the sun, but they were everywhere. 

"Do we go back?" Eren asked.

"To what? There's nothing back there," Armin answered.

Shaking her head, Mikasa said, "No. Armin's right, we can't go back. The gas station's right across the street. If we run for it, we can make it."

Nodding, Armin said, "A-And we'll escape out the back. There's probably an alley behind it that connects it to those tenements."

"I hope you're right, Armin."

Mouth agape, Eren exclaimed, " _You hope?_ What if he's wrong and we're trapped in that gas station?!"

Shrugging, Mikasa calmly answered, "Well, we had a good run. Come on!"

The three rushed across the street, as quickly as possible, only gaining the attention of the nearest undead. They swiveled their heads around and gnashed their teeth. Growls and snarls escaped their throats, but due to rotting vocal chords, the sounds were distorted and unnatural. Stiff hands swiped at the three and tried to grab cloth, hair, and finally flesh.

Swipe, swipe, _swipe._

"Aah!"

Armin and Mikasa turned around to see one of the undead, pulling on Eren's shirt. He slashed at the thing with his knife, all the while shouting at the top of his lungs. Lunging forward, Mikasa hacked at its arms with her katana, over and over. Finally, it's arms came off, splattering the two in warm, thick blood.

Panting, Eren stepped away, feeling his arms and shoulders for anything.

Armin, snapped the two back to reality, "G-Guys!"

Now they really garnered the attention of all the undead on the street. They all stirred and shuffled and like a massive herd, lumbered over to the trio.

Waving them forward, Mikasa shouted, "Go go go!"

Running into the store, Armin grabbed a broomstick and shoved it between the door handles. The undead pounded against the doors, causing the entire store to shake. The trio stared at the door, unable to act. Outside the undead scratched and pounded the window, their jaws opening and closing, dead eyes fixated on the three.

Armin finally snapped the three out of their stupor, exclaiming, "It's not gonna hold forever!"

Back to action, the three found the back entrance of the store. As they made their way they shoved whatever they could into their bags, barely looking at what it was. 

Once they finally reached the back of the store, they made their way through the storage area and into an alleyway behind the store. As the door shut behind them, they heard the shatter of glass and the moaning of the undead grow louder. 

Frantically, they ran to a fire escape Eren pointed to and made their way up it, not stopping until they were several stories high. Taking a break, the three panted and regained their breath. From where they stood they could still see the large crowd around the gas station and hear the shattering of glass over the moans and growls.

Between breaths, Mikasa said, "What...do we...do...now?"

Exhaling heavily, Armin said, "I don't know. We can't go back."

Hands on his head, Eren said, "Why don't we go inside here? There's nothing else to do. We can see what we grabbed and catch a breath. There's nothing left to salvage out of today."

 Armin looked to Mikasa, who stood and shrugged. "Guess he's right."

The three all stood up and opened the door to the fire escape. They cautiously entered the building, Mikasa wielding the katana. They checked door after door, but they were all locked. Finally, they found one apartment that wasn't locked. _602._

Tentatively, Mikasa opened the door and cursorily glanced around. The boys came in after her, and the three split up checking the one other rooms. It was empty. No undead.

The kitchenette cabinets were empty, as was the fridge. The bedroom had a bunch of drawers open, as if the inhabitants had left in a rush. There were also cans of food and bottles of water in the living room, next to a single mattress.

"I think someone was here," Eren stated.

Coming out of the bedroom, Armin declared, "Place is empty. I think the people who lived here evacuated a long time ago."

"No, Eren's right. Come see this."

After Armin became aware of the cans, Mikasa looked around the room again, and then out one of the windows. 

The three jolted up, as a voice behind them shouted,  _"Freeze!"_

Slowly, the three turned around to see two men, one with a gun. Well, teenagers really. One was lanky and had a two-toned undercut. He had sharp features and pale skin. The other one had dark brown hair, tan freckled skin, and was a little chubby. He seemed more worried than anything else, but seemed a lot less severe than the other boy.

The lanky one repeated himself, pointing the gun, "Freeze! P-Please."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! Thank you all so much for reading chapter one!
> 
> I hope y'all enjoyed it!
> 
> Anyways, this is a freeform kinda thing going on, but I'm really excited for this story and I'm gonna work to try not to make this as cliche as possible. I thought that snk was the best for a long zombie story as there's many characters in the manga/anime, and I have a lot of ideas!
> 
> Please like and bookmark and comment and tell your friends about this story! I'm really excited to share this with you and I promise to update frequently!
> 
> Thanks for reading!
> 
> P.S. If you have any ideas or suggestions or something then you can always message me on tumblr at mihkoshiba!


	2. Three to Five

_"I s-said freeze!"_

Eren, Mikasa, and Armin stood very still, all eyes trained on the gun pointed at them. Oddly enough, the three didn't show any signs of apprehension, but the boy holding the gun and the one behind him seemed almost petrified at the sight of the trio. They had thought that the living would've been a welcome sign in these days.

Calmly, Armin said, "Don't worry. We're frozen."

"Who are you?!" The boy demanded.

"I'm Armin," Armin said, ever so calmly, "And that's Mikasa and Eren. Who are you?"

The boy hesitated for a moment, then answered, "I'm Jean and this is Marco."

"John and Marco?"  Eren repeated.

Rolling his eyes, Jean snarled, " _Jean._ "

"Well Jean," Mikasa interceded, "What do you want us to do?"

Jean seemed taken aback, not sure what exactly what his demands were. After a lull, he said, "Can you guys just go? Please?"

"Go?! You want us to go?! Go what? Go and die?!" Eren said, fury rising in his voice.

"They're right," Marco said, allowing the three to hear his voice for the first time.

"What? Marco?" Jean said, incredulously.

Marco nodded and said, "Those  _things_ are all over the place today. If they leave they'll die. And they can't be any older than us."

Jean turned to Marco, momentarily ignoring the three, "Marco..."

In that moment, Mikasa lunged forward, trying to grab the gun from Jean's hands. At the same time, Eren rushed Jean and tackled him to the ground, inhibiting Mikasa's attempt to grab the weapon. The two boys struggled, punching each other, each trying to gain the upper hand.

_Blam._

The gun went off once, and everyone froze. They slowly stood, but nobody was hurt.

"You jackass!" Eren shouted, "Are you trying to kill someone!?"

Jean's mouth was agape, but he retorted, "Me?! You're the one who tackled someone with a gun in their damn hand!"

Marco stepped between the two, grabbing Jean and whispering something that calmed him slightly.

Mikasa had a hand placed on Eren's shoulder, also ready to act.

As there was a brief moment of silence, the five heard shuffling and thumping from above them, causing them all to look up.

Armin stepped around the others, then shut the door, locking all three locks. Turning around, he brushed his bangs out of his face, and declared, "We all need to calm down. Like it or not, we're stuck in here with each other for a little while, and killing each other is only going to make things worse."

"A-Armin's right, Jean. We're stuck."

Jean bit his lip, frustrated and ran a hand through his hair. Stomping his foot, he walked into the other room, slamming the door.

Marco sighed, saying, "Sorry about him. He's always been temperamental and  _everything_ that's happened has him frustrated a lot. A-And sorry about the gun. We've had a bad experience with some other people we met in the city."

Eren stepped forward, eyes widened, and asked, "You've seen other people in the city? Where? What happened?"

Before Marco could answer, Mikasa interjected, "Wait wait wait. I want you to start from the beginning Marco. If you don't mind."

And so Marco did. Over the course of the next hour, Marco told him and Jean's story. In the beginning they stayed in a big stadium with hundreds of other people. Marco and Jean, who went to the same high school, both lost their families during the initial period when so many people got sick. The military began to move people day by day, but always more people flocked to the stadium. One day some of the undead got into the stadium and attacked people, causing a massive panic. In the chaos the two escaped and began moving north until they hit Trost.

"Along the way, we met two other people named Franz and Hannah," Marco explained.

"Where are they now?" Armin asked.

Sighing, Marco continued, "Well when we got here, we holed up in an apartment building downtown. During the days we would go look for supplies in pairs, and one day Hannah and Franz met these people, we could see them from the apartment, in the street below."

Marco paused and closed his eyes for awhile. His expression grew heavy in a few seconds, and he continued wearily, "They talked for like a few minutes until one of them shot Hannah and another shot Franz. They stole their stuff and just left them there. A-And Franz was still alive but the gunshots attracted so many of the dead...and..."

He trailed off but nobody needed him to finish the sentence. Armin reached forward and touched his knuckle, saying, "I'm sorry."

Marco nodded, and then said, "And that's why Jean was so freaked out. He was scared, but don't tell him I said that."

"We get it," Eren said.

Scratching his neck, Marco said, "Thanks. I'm gonna actually go check on him. He's probably still really mad."

The three watched Marco walk into the room and shut the door behind him. 

"What do you guys think?" Mikasa asked immediately.

"I think we should ask them to come with us." Armin said.

Eren looked at Armin, brows furrowed, then hissed, "N-No! He tried to shoot us!"

"But," Mikasa pointed out, "He did it in self-defense."

"No. Still no. Marco's alright but that  _Jean._ I can't stand him."

"Eren, come on. They're our age and they've been through the same things as us," Armin argued, "Plus a gun? That's got to come in handy sometimes."

Eren pursed his lips and said, "Whatever. Go ahead. But I don't like it."

Mikasa looked at the door, separating them from Jean and Marco. 

"Yeah, but we need them."

* * *

Jean sat on the bed, looking out the window. Marco walked up beside him and sat, "Hey."

Jean ignored him and Marco sighed, "Jean, please."

"I hate this."

"I know," Marco said.

Turning around Jean continued, "No, Marco, I fricking hate this!"

Jean's face was puffy and his eyes were red. His eyebrows were knitted into a permanent scowl and his jaw was clenched tightly. Continuing, he practically spat, "I hate running all the time. I hate having to scavenge like a rat. I hate waking up and wondering if I'm gonna die today. It's so unfair."

Marco scooted closer to Jean, just nodding as Jean ranted. The two were opposites in almost every way. Jean was pale and lean while Marco was tan, freckled, and chubby. Marco was calm and Jean was easily frustrated. Jean was tough and Marco wasn't. Marco was brave and Jean was anxious, but could be brave. Yet the two had such strong magnetism and understood each other. Needed each other.

"A-And I hate that I might lose you, every single day."

At this, Jean looked down and rubbed the dusty bed spread.

Marco leaned forward, pressing his forehead against Jean's, saying, "Lose me? I'm not going anywhere. Ever."

Jean smiled faintly, and said, "Yeah. I know."

Scooting away, Marco said, "Those three aren't too bad. They're nice."

"Even that douche, Eren?"

Laughing, Marco nodded, "Even that douche, Eren."

"Well, now I feel kinda bad pulling that gun out. Good thing we won't have to see them after this."

Marco exhaled deeply, and said, "Yeah, that's just it. I want to ask them if we could go with them. Wherever they're going."

"What? Why?"

"It's so hard all the time," Marco explained, "I mean we can't keep doing everything by ourselves. Remember how easier things were with Franz and Hannah?"

Nodding, Jean thought for a moment, then said, "But Franz and Hannah needed us.  _They_ don't."

"You don't know that."

"I think that."

The two sat and stared at each other, until Marco said, "Well I'm going to ask them, and you're going to swallow your pride."

Jean mumbled something under his breath and Marco leaned forward, "Hm?"

"Nothing...But can we ask them in the morning? I'm super exhausted."

Smiling, Marco hummed, "Sure. Anything you want."

"Get over here. Keep me warm."

* * *

 

In the morning all five of them sat in the kitchen, backpacks on, everything ready to go.

"Well," Jean said, "This is goodbye I guess."

"Goodbye," Eren said, brusquely.

"No," Marco said to Jean before turning to the trio, "We were going to ask you if we could tag along with you guys. I mean, we definitely need the help and if you guys can get past yesterday..."

Armin turned to Mikasa, then said, "We were actually going to ask you to come with us. As long as it's okay with the both of you."

"It is!" Marco said, "It totally is."

"And," Armin said with a smirk, "As long as you guys don't get all gun crazy on us."

"Deal."

"Where are you guys going?" Mikasa asked.

Jean shrugged and said, "Got nowhere to go. Wherever you guys are headed we're totally fine with."

"We're going to find our families," Eren said, "So we're heading north. Is that gun all you guys have?"

Shaking his head, Marco said, "No, we have some knives and stuff too."

"Good to know," Mikasa said.

With a smile, a genuine smile that Armin hadn't done for months, he said, "Welcome to the team, you guys."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay guys, few things.
> 
> Firstly, this is NOT a love story, and there's gonna be some romance type dealios but it's not gonna be the focal point of the story. 
> 
> With that, WELCOME JEAN AND MARCO! As the story progresses, I'm gonna add in some other characters y'all know and love, (and tear some of them away from you guys hehehe) so stay tuned for your faves.
> 
> Anyways, thanks again for reading. Please leave kudos and comments and all that good stuff. And please share this story! I want others to know about this and I promise it won't be trash!
> 
> Alright guys! See y'all soon!


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